Much to my chagrin, Daddy gave Ethan a “shell shocker” robot for Christmas. For lack of better terms, I’ll call it a rather violent remote-control armadillo that can turn itself inside out and break-dance. It’s overpriced too, but Jared bought it with his own Christmas bonus so I don’t mind. Ethan loves it. But daddy wasn’t one to leave Mary wanting, or to leave a fighting armadillo without a friend… We’d never been the type of parents to hand our son toy guns and our daughter dollies. We’ve tried to stay somewhat gender neutral with toys like k’nex, books, movies, art supplies, and video games. But Mary has a strong inclination toward girly-hood. If we don’t give her baby dolls, she invents her own.

Mary had noticed the two like boxes, one to her, one to Ethan, before Christmas. Wrapped, she’d frequently coddled them as her twin babies, tucked them into blankets, talked to them, etc.

Upon opening her gift (daddy was quick to point out they’re on different frequencies so they can fight) Mary exclaimed: “Oooh, I saw this on TV! The CARE BEARS play with it!” She screamed when Daddy made it chase her

Now she’s calling it her baby again, and cooking it some lunch. “Oooh, the baby wants a free hotdog! Who wants a little sandwich?” She loves her sweet baby and has in fact adopted Ethans as well and has affectionately named them Rippo and Rappo. I kid you not – this is the type of thing my girl comes up with.

“Here babies~! Time for Dinner!” Even though she has to stand on the stairs to avoid coming in contact with them, she still hand-feeds them their plastic waffles. The love of a mother! 🙂